As Haruto got up, he noticed that his clothing changed. He wore no more than a white shirt and pajamas. Tokino also changed, wearing her usual home attire: a purple capped sleeve shirt with a crescent moon—and light blue dolphin shorts with white rims. She treasured it, being an anniversary present.

Tokino sat on the bed with her legs folded.

Haruto’s eyes lowered. “I lost, didn’t I?”

“No, honey, no…” She shook her head. “I-I mean, at least the way I saw it.” She sighed. “What Hokori did was unforgivable. Taking advantage of your serenity just so he can win. It was so disgusting….

“Haruto… while you were asleep, I’ve been thinking that maybe this isn’t the new life you wanted—”

“No… I’m not coming back. At least for a long time. Disappointment from my comrades’ faces would far outweigh anything Hokori throws at me. We’re staying. This isn’t a warzone, Tokino. I’d never want to disappoint our Yukino, either. Do you understand?”

Her teeth clenched as her lips frowned. She sobbed and hugged him tightly. “No… No, I don’t understand at all. I don’t want to. I don’t want to. Please….” Her fingernails sunk deeper. “I knew you would deny it. I didn’t want to ask either. But I just can’t take it, Haruto. I can’t handle losing you.

“I knew of our promise. But now that felt like overconfidence.” Tokino let go. “The whole time you were there—I couldn’t help you….” She continued the waterworks.

Haruto briefly looked at his distraught wife. He grabbed her shoulders and kissed her. Her eyes widened in surprise.

He let go. “Sorry… I needed that. It’s been a long trip. I don’t have much to say for now, Tokino. But I want you to know I won’t change my mind.”

At that moment, Tokino saw a happy-go-lucky kid within Haruto. Her heart melted instantly. She rubbed her eyes and kissed him back. “You’ve said quite enough. You’re giving me trust….” She stood up from the bed.

Moments later, they heard a knock on the door behind them. It slowly open since it was not locked.

It turned out to be Yukino. Seeing her father awake, she gasped and ran immediately. “Papaaaa!” she hugged him, bawling her eyes out.

More moments later, the couple saw Hokori’s comrades step inside. They now wore green tracksuits. “Why do you two look like that?” asked Tokino.

“We do a lot of training, ma’am. My favorite’s the one where we walk on glass bridges.” Kakunō explained.

Kenkō pointed her thumb at him. “Country boy here always needed his ass to be saved.”

He popped a vein and turned to her. “Stop calling me ‘country boy’! I wasn’t even like that back then. That only happened when I left the nation! You, on the other hand, have been literally birthed by the lowest caste of—” He briefly checked her hand to see if she readied a scalpel.

Kenkō did not. She never even gave him the same glare before. It looked more like disappointment.

He sighed with his eyes closed. “Sorry….”

Kenkō turned to Tokino. “I know this sounds ass-backward to ask—but can you cook? Kakunō can. He was the only one who could.”

“Well… I usually do it together with my Haruto. But don’t worry. I’ll help out.” She smiled.

Haruto got his feet off the bed, sitting. “Wait a minute… I want to—”

She turned around and placed her hands on his shoulders. “No, honey, please… You deserve the rest. Yukino will stay here with you.”

“I’ll never leave you, Papa. Never!” she shook her head.

He chuckled and patted her head. “Alright. I’ll—” They heard noise down in the living room.

Hokori sang the chorus of “Loser” by Beck as he walked upstairs. At the end of the second verse, he banged the door open and grinned at Haruto. “Rise and shine, baby….”

His eyes slightly narrowed. “Get out…” he panted.

Hokori snickered. “Hahahahahaha! C’mon now, boy… I told ya dat ain’t fuckin’ nice. For the record, you’re sleepin’ in mah shit right now, cuz your cobwebbed rooms ain’t renovated ‘til tomorrow. The least ya can say is ‘thank you.’ Surely your mom raised ya right.” He walked closer.

“Get out!!” Haruto startled everyone else.

He smirked. “Oh, I see… You just love pickin’ fights, don’t ya? And here I thought your girlfriend would be the one to shout at me.”

His eyes narrowed more. “Picking fights? You were the one that—”

Hokori lifted his index finger. “Ah ah ah, dat ain’t the point, boy. Naw… I only wanted to fuck around, while you decided to get some swords to grind. As a result, you fellated your Ls like no other. If ya dunno what dat means, dis’s you.” He place the associated hand sign on his forehead. “Ya got that?”

Haruto got off the bed and ran toward him. However, Tokino restrained him. He struggled, but eventually, he complied with her wish. She let go in response.

Kakunō moved in between. “Hey, hey, hey, guys! If we do this bullshit all night, we’ll all have empty stomachs. Let’s just go. And leave him alone, Hokori.”

“Nah, bruh…” he shook his head. “I want the boy to know…” he pulled up an empty bottle using Runic Art with his blood, “…that I’m pickin’ the fight dis time!” He threw it at Haruto. The bottle flew over a window and landed three hundred kilometers to a forest. The loud impact frightened a herd of conifer camels.

“Stop doing that!” Haruto shouted as Kakunō restrained him next.

His eyes narrowed. “Oh, I wish! Cuz I also wish it hit—and left you in a coma! Don’t ever fucking test me, boy. You don’t need your knives right now. Let’s just find out who hits harder!” he cracked his knuckles.

Haruto broke free of his restraints. “Bring it on, then!!”

“Any fuckin’ day, boy!!” he walked heavily, “I will bring it on until your skull gets pushed in so deep, it’ll come outta your—” A tranquilizer dart hit his neck.

The same occurred to Haruto, and his wife stopped his fall. Hokori fell face-first.

The others saw Kenkō holding the same gun-like syringe. “Let’s go….” She stored it via runes. Kakunō followed her outside.

Tokino tucked Haruto in bed. She saw Yukino rubbing her eyes with a fist. “What’s wrong?” she held her shoulder.

“I hate it, Mama… I hate it so much. I don’t want them to fight.” She sobbed.

Tokino hugged her, rubbing her back. “Oh, honey… That’s only between them. I don’t know how they’ll reconcile—but you shouldn’t blame yourself.”

“It’s not that,” she shook her head. “Uncle’s heart felt like he didn’t want Papa to be here. It wasn’t out of malice, again. It was like he was scaring him away….”

Tokino sighed with her eyes closed. “I think I might know why. But don’t ever stress yourself over this, okay? I’ll handle it.” She patted her head.

Yukino nodded and slept next to her father. As her closed her eyes, Tokino kissed her cheek.

She turned her head before walking out the door. “Don’t ever think that way, honey… My sweet little angel….”

The door closed.

An hour later, Kenkō kept nudging Hokori’s head and told him it was dinnertime. He groaned and moved around. “No, please don’t, Mom… Give me six more minutes. The teachers worked me to death….” He sleep-talked in Japanese.

She grunted. “Wake up!” She slapped him down to the floor. He screamed “no” repeatedly in the same language.

Standing up, Hokori realized he slept on his favorite couch. It faced a wall aquarium of his pet Kelpy spadefish: Bleeker. “Did ya feed him lately?” He turned to Kenkō.

She sighed. “I told you… He only needs one hand every six months. I’m never short on them. Why am I even talking about this? Just go…” she pushed him from behind to the dining room.

Back in bed, Yukino woke up her father for the same reason. She still frowned. She took a deep breath and slapped him.

She ran to the door, but her father said, “Y-Yukino… Why?”

She turned around. “I… I hate both of you right now! You’re not brothers at all!” She ran again.

He got up and ran downstairs. “Wait! Yukino!”

Haruto saw the others conversing in the dining room. Dinner tonight was medium rare wagyu, croque monsieur, onigiri, and financier.

Hokori sat on his favorite spot: the left width of a rectangular table. As he briefly got up from his chair, Yukino punched his waist repeatedly in front. “Hate you! Hate you! Hate you!” She said it four more times.

He raised an eyebrow. “Kiddo, I ain’t feel nothin’. What’re ya doin’?”

She stopped, tears still flowing. “You’re not my Uncle. You’re just a big fat meanie! Brothers aren’t supposed to despise each other forever. They’re supposed to love each other even if they don’t want to. How could you!” She ran crying to her mother, hugging her tightly. Tokino rubbed her back again.

Hokori turned to Kenkō. “Is she off her meds or somethin’?” She kicked him in the ankle. “Ow….”

He then saw Haruto in the distance. “I’m not done with you yet…” his eyes squinted.

He walked closer. “Well, ya should be, boy… ‘cuz now it’s annoying. Now shut up and chow down. Imma be doin’ my business.” He walked inside the house’s third bathroom.

Haruto sighed and sat by Tokino. She sat at the right width of the table, trying to encourage Yukino to eat. Eventually she picked one financier and took small bites.

Haruto did not say anything to them as he started his meal. However, Tokino looked at him for a moment.

Kakunō managed to break the silence by conversing with her. After a while, he turned to Yukino. “I was hoping you would love these, Yuki.” Using runes, he pulled up two silver cubes branded as “Automodachi” (オートモダチ) in the Coelestis market.

Thrown near Yukino’s side of the table, they transformed into small robots. Measuring ten centimeters, the Automodachi were designed to be marketable for children—with their big round heads and small bodies. They also had a mechanical appearance. Metallic sheets stitched up by bolts on their bodies, gears for eyes, and horizontal slits for mouths. They showed sentience, belittling each other in their made-up language.

The Automodachi did rock-papers-scissors before Yukino’s eyes. They made each other trip over a leg as they laughed and complained at one another.

Yukino laughed in joy—until the robots began fighting. Even though it was done comically, her expression soured. Kakunō stepped in. “On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t have shown it to you at all.” He pressed the buttons on the robots’ forehead. It returned them to their original cubic state.

Kakunō tried to pick up the Automodachi—but Yukino stopped him. “No, it’s okay, Big Bro. Thank you so much….” She stored them inside runes.

He sighed and patted her head, making her giggle. Her parents smiled.

Tokino turned to her husband and held his left hand. “Are you feeling better?”

Haruto dropped his fork. “Well… I’m still not sure about that…” he quickly kissed her, “…but I’ll always accept your concerns. I’m fine.” He smiled intimately.

Tokino blushed—as did Yukino and Kenkō.

Kakunō caressed his chin. “Hmmm… Why do I feel like these two are from a show? Or an anime.” He shrugged. “Eh… maybe just my imagination…” he helped himself with a croque monsieur.